In the wake of the September, 11 2001 terror attacks on the United States, NATO, for the first time ever, invoked its mutual defence clause enshrined in its constituting Article 5. NATO subsequently ousted the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, which had been harbouring Osama Bin Laden’s Al Qaida, in a campaign starting in October 2001. Hopes that improvements in health, education, women’s rights, and economic opportunities in Afghanistan would drain support for the Taliban quickly evaporated. A protracted war of attrition marked by asymmetric warfare ensued, and the conflict in Afghanistan became the US’ and NATO’s longest military engagement. Foreign interventions typically aim to reduce the cost of potential civil wars (Mueller 2014). However, these interventions come a high price. According to the Costs of War Project, the conflict in Afghanistan has come at a cumulative total cost of $2 trillion to the US alone, along with the loss of at least 3,500 NATO troops and between 171,000 to 174,000 casualties in Afghanistan.